Live the Live ™

Home from New Zealand now, and it should be no surprise that I timed my vacation so that this lovely pork belly would be perfectly cured by the time I got home!

Urban Eatery and Oyster Bar gets my award for best overall restaurant in Nelson, and the best I’ve had on my entire trip! Great food, excellent cocktails, and wonderful people that let this annoying American sit at the bar at his own special seat! Great atmosphere. It has it all.

I’ve had a lot of sushi in my day, and this is some of the best ever. Wafu Bistro in Nelson, NZ.

Kismet is the best bar in Nelson, NZ. Nick and Ara are passionate about the cocktails they serve, and it’s fun to watch masters at work! Great people, too.

My last road trip in New Zealand was to Cable Bay, which sounded like a fun, leisurely, 25 minute ride away from Nelson. Actually, the roads were extremely narrow, crumbling, with log trucks coming the other way! Rock slides on one side of the road, crumbling cliffs to the left. A challenge, but the scenery was beautiful.

I started in Nelson and I am back in Nelson now. Well over 1000 miles, including the train ride. Top speeds on NZ roads are 60 mph, but many are half that, so I spent quite a few hours behind the wheel. I would’ve taken more photos and more videos, but there are very few places to pull over on the side of the road safely to do that. Still, it was quite the journey. I have one more full day in Nelson, and I’m not quite sure yet what I’m going to do. But it has been quite a ride!

An amazing bottle of Hans Herzog Chardonnay and no corkscrew in my hotel room. And my Swiss Army knife was no help at all! So I used the old school technique of wrapping the bottle with a towel, and pushing the cork in with a spoon. Worked like a charm.

Many of the wineries now have restaurants and offer wonderful lunches with wine tastings. Saint Clair is one of the best!

The best wines in Marborough are here. You can’t get them in the states. Super small production, sometimes literally one row of a particular grape variety. Quality, not quantity. Organic. All by hand. I am no expert, but some of the best wine I’ve ever had. We were here 12 years ago for a fantastic dinner, but they don’t do that anymore. I did get the private tour, though.

Ika mata. A traditional dish of the Cook Islands, similar to ceviche. Raw fish, coconut, milk, lime juice.